Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T20:14:18.020Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

On the relationship between gas and dust in 15 comets: an application to Comet 103P/Hartley 2 target of the NASA EPOXI mission of opportunity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2010

G. C. Sanzovo ,
D. Trevisan Sanzovo  and
A. A. de Almeida
G. C. Sanzovo
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, State University of Londrina, Londrina, PR, Brazil email: [email protected]
D. Trevisan Sanzovo
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, State University of Londrina, Londrina, PR, Brazil email: [email protected]
A. A. de Almeida
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil email: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

After the success of Deep Impact mission to hit the nucleus of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 with an impactor, the concerns are turned now to the possible reutilization of this dormant flyby spacecraft in the study of another comet, for only about 10% of the cost of the original mission. Comet 103P/Hartley 2 on UT 2010 October 11 is the most attractive target in terms of available fuel at rendezvous and arrival time at the comet. In addition, the comet has a low inclination so that major orbital plane changes in the spacecraft trajectory are unnecessary. In an effort to provide information concerning the planning of this new NASA EPOXI space mission of opportunity, we use in this work, visual magnitudes measurements available from International Comet Quarterly (ICQ) to obtain, applying the Semi-Empirical Method of Visual Magnitudes - SEMVM (de Almeida, Singh, & Huebner 1997), the water production rates (in molecules/s) related to its perihelion passage of 1997. When associated to the water vaporization theory of Delsemme (1982), these rates allowed the acquisition of the minimum dimension for the effective nuclear radius of the comet. The water production rates were then converted into gas production rates (in g/s) so that, with the help of the strong correlation between gas and dust found for 12 periodic comets and 3 non-period comets (Trevisan Sanzovo 2006), we obtained the dust loss rates (in g/s), its behavior with the heliocentric distance and the dust-to-gas ratios in this physically attractive rendezvous target-comet to Deep Impact spacecraft at a closest approach of 700 km.

Keywords

Gas release rates - Dust release rates - Dust-to-gas ratios - Short-period comets - Comet 103P/Hartley 2
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 5 , Symposium S263: Icy Bodies of the Solar System , August 2009 , pp. 272 - 276
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2010

References

A'Hearn, M. F., Millis, R. L., Schleicher D. G. et al. 1995, Icarus 118, 223CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Almeida, A. A., Singh, P. D., & Huebner, W. F. 1997, Planet. Space Sci. 45, 681A&A 45, 681CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colangeli, L., Epifani, E., Brucato, J. R. et al. 1999, A&A 343, L87Google Scholar
Crovisier, J., Encrenaz, Th., Lellouch, E. et al. 1999, ESASP 427, 161Google Scholar
Delsemme, A. H. 1982, in: Wilkening, L. L. (ed.) Comets University of Arizona Press, Tucson, p.85CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Groussin, O., Lamy, P., Jorda, L. et al. 2004, A&A 419, 375Google Scholar
Hartley, M. 1984, IAU Circ. 4015, 1Google Scholar
Lisse, C. M., Fernández, Y. R., Kundu, A. et al. 1999, Icarus 140, 189CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lisse, C. M., Fernández, Y. R., Reach, W. T. et al. 2009, PASP (in Press)Google Scholar
Morris, C. S. 1973, PASP 85, 470CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanzovo, G. C., Singh, P. D., & Huebner, W. F. 1996, A&AS 120, 301Google Scholar
Sanzovo, G. C., de Almeida, A. A., Misra, A. et al. 2001, MNRAS 326, 852CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schleicher, D. G., Millis, R. L., Osip, D. J. et al. 1991, Icarus 94, 511.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tancredi, G., Fernandez, J. A., Rickman, H. et al. 2000, A&AS 146, 73Google Scholar
Trevisan Sanzovo, D. T. 2006, MSc Thesis, State University of Londrina, Londrina, PR, BrazilGoogle Scholar
Weaver, H. A., Feldman, P. D., A'Hearn, M. F. et al. 1997, Science 275, 1900CrossRefGoogle Scholar